Emperor Adrion I
Emperor Adrion I Emperor Adrion I was the Emperor of Nesaria during WW2 and the War of Independence. He is considered a national hero of Nesaria. Adrion was the founder of Nesarian Fascism, a version of the ideology widely considered the most moderate form, and some consider it to be barely fascist at all, only sharing the name. He gained the nickname "The People's Emperor" due to his populist policies and concern for the common man, although he never used this nickname himself. Although his fascist stance is now controversial, his leadership during both wars is greatly praised, and he is credited with almost single-handedly winning the Empire's freedom in the War of Indepenendence. Angry and ashamed at Emperor Faltas V's handling of the Nesarian Empire post-WW1, and the fact that Faltas lost the war in the first place, Adrion led a popular uprising culminating in the March on Capera in 1930. He took the throne and immediately started to work as hard as he could to rejuvenate the country, meeting with experts around the world to learn how it could be done. Adrion became intrigued by the fascist movement in Europe, and he had extensive talks with Benito Mussolini - although he found more common ground with Oswald Mosley, leader of the ultimately unsuccessful British Union of Fascists. Adrion created his fascist state and re-organised the country into an authoritarian but efficient system, starting huge projects to get the country moving again, such as building a massive road network and reinvigorating farms and the steel industry. Since the Empire had been broken up in the Treaty of Aemea following WW1, Adrion began re-armament and declared the rebirth of the Empire, marching into the old Imperial lands. There was virtually no opposition from the ex-Empire states, who were also undergoing hard times and who wanted the Empire back not only for trade but to take revenge on those who had wronged them. How Adrion achieved this "Imperial Rebirth" is explained in further detail here. Germany invaded Poland in 1939, kickstarting WW2, and Emperor Adrion I brought the Empire into the war in 1940. To cut a long story short, the war was ultimately lost in 1946, and the USSR annexed the Empire. Adrion I was allowed to live out the rest of his days in peace, but in 1948 he began a revolution, which eventually turned into the War of Independence. Adrion I had been disgraced by his defeat in WW2, but the public was eventually feverishly supportive of him as he led the country to victory, humiliating the USSR and regaining freedom for the Empire. For this, he was hailed as a hero until his death. Although the Bloodless Revolution in 1980 was aimed at removing his fascist system, it was aimed at Adrion's government and not Adrion himself, and he was received well by the public for submitting peacefully to the revolution and ensuring no blood was shed. Everyone mourned his death in 1982, particularly in Nesaria itself. Many political parties in Nesaria advocate for making Adrion's death a public holiday. Adrion was reportedly excellent at war games and a brilliant strategist, but he only briefly commanded armies on the tactical level at the outset of the War of Independence. He did not want to become a full-time general because, in his own words, he did not trust anyone else to run the Empire while he was busy. Adrion was a vocal supporter of Orcish rights and was the first to criminalise species-based discrimination throughout the Empire and make a formal apology for the Mortian Genocide. He supported (and, in many cases, funded) the Mortian Renaissance and allocated a greater budget for the development of Drazak. This means that despite Adrion being a Nesarian ethno-nationalist, some of his greatest supporters were in fact the Orcs. Adrion's memory is also fondly kept by the Estemorians, and he had strong support from them while he was alive, due to him officially taking the title of "Successor to the Kumukh Handughy" and adding it to the full title of the Emperor. Previously, this title had only been unofficial, and it had not been used in any capacity since Emperor Jacras I, who died in 1860. The Estemorians especially appreciated that Adrion decided to use the original untranslated name rather than the Nesarian translation ("Immortal Great King"), which many prior Emperors who took the title had done. Quotes "The Empire cannot exist without the Emperor." (In one of his essays describing Nesarian Fascism) "You say the people would take my head if I stopped fighting for Nesaria. You are wrong; I would take my own." (In response to a critic who suggested that the only reason Adrion hadn't surrendered was that the people would kill him if he did, therefore calling Adrion a coward) (In response to Joseph Stalin's demand for unconditional surrender at the beginning of the War of Independence:) "Fuck off." "A man may say he fights for his Emperor or his country, but what every man truly fights for is his family." (Often shortened simply to "What every man truly fights for is his family")